Luke Kennard Earns USBWA All-America Honors

Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports Duke sophomore guard Luke Kennard collected another All-America honor on Monday when he was announced as a second-team selection by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

The USBWA team is one of four used to determine consensus All-America honors (also AP, NABC and Sporting News). Kennard has already garnered second-team All-America status from Sporting News.

Kennard is the 31st All-American to play for Duke under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, a group that has earned a collective 45 selections. Coach K has coached at least one All-American in 29 of his 37 seasons at Duke.

Duke has had at least one All-American in each of the last 10 seasons, dating to 2008. Kennard is Duke’s 10th All-American this decade and its 20th since 2000 (26 total honors).

As a program, Duke has had 43 players combine to be named All-Americans 67 times.

Kennard leads Duke in scoring with an average of 20.1 points per game while shooting .500 from the floor, .443 from outside the arc and .849 from the free throw line. He is one of two players nationally – and the only major-conference player – to average at least 20.0 points while shooting at least .500 from the floor, .400 from outside the arc and .800 from the line.

The Franklin, Ohio, native has scored in double figures in 34 of Duke’s 35 games this season, eclipsing the 20-point mark a team-high 19 times. He leads the ACC in scoring, ranks second in three-point field goal percentage and ranks sixth in field goal percentage while averaging the second-most minutes per game (35.9) in the conference.

He has made at least one three-point field goal in 38 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Duke history and the 10th-longest stretch in ACC history.

Kennard eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career on Feb. 25 at Miami, becoming just the 12th Duke player (and fifth under Krzyzewski) to hit that milestone prior to the end of his second season. He has an opportunity to become the fifth Duke player – and first since Christian Laettner in 1992 – to average at least 20.0 points while shooting at least 50 percent from the field.

For his career, Kennard owns averages of 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 30.8 minutes. He is a career .466 shooter from the floor and .385 from three-point range. Kennard’s .863 career free throw percentage is currently the second-best in Duke history (min. 200 FTs made).

He has scored at least 20 points in more than one-third (26-of-71) of his games in a Duke uniform.

Kennard was the only unanimous choice for first-team All-ACC honors this season and was also an All-District III selection by the USBWA. He has been named a member of the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award, a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy and a final-five candidate for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.